5 Best Restaurants in The Cayes and Atolls, Belize

Chef-owner Darren Casson has done it again with this global fusion restaurant (with a pan-Asian bent), lighting the way for a culinary scene to unfold on North Caye Caulker. Dynamite dishes include orange peel firecracker ribs and an aged rib eye with chimichurri sauce. At lunch, you'll also find classics like quesadillas or the daily Belizean special. Located at Blu Zen Resort, Lotus is not as atmospheric as the more intimate Hibisca by Habanero, but the menu is at least as interesting. 

The jazzy marquee letters reading “I Love Belize” capture the enthusiasm of this long-standing favorite. The beachfront restaurant serves up colorful dishes like Thai-inspired black bean-encrusted fish, plus less flashy options like a club sandwich, so there's something for everyone. Nothing about Blue Water is cheap, but it works to please, with its wood-fired pizzas, top-notch service, and breezy beachfront setting. 

Perhaps the brightest foodie highlight on Caye Caulker, Hibisca serves the kind of innovative dishes you'd expect in a cosmopolitan city. Don't worry, though––it's still casual Caulker. Chef-owner Darren Casson pushes for ambitious, genre-busting flavors, but he also dishes up loaded fries and an array of burgers (including a veggie patty). Most guests go gaga over flavor combos like red pepper romesco sauce paired with Belizean dukunu (a tamale-like dish), but some sniff at the avant-garde style. You'll have to try it to know where you land.

Simple decor and few walls make space for this rooftop's real ambience: the Caribbean horizon and watercolor sunsets. Some of the prices are jaw-dropping, but so are the culinary creations: executive chef and San Pedrano Samuel Gonzalez has a way with local ingredients and all things seafood. From-the-land dishes shine, too: options such as the bleu cheese-crusted filet mignon use ingredients the island seldom sees. It's possible to pop into Rain for a cocktail and watch the sunset. Just below Rain is Aqua, another of Gonzalez's high-profile restaurants, known for exquisite sushi. Both are attached to the resort Grand Caribe.

Noted local chef Amy Knox has made Wild Mango's one of the most interesting dining choices in town. She calls her cooking New Wave Latin—Caribbean food infused with spicy flavors from Cuba, Argentina, and Mexico. The updated menu spotlights Belizean crops and foodways: you'll find small plates like a citrus cocoa nib salad and plantain tostones with shrimp sofrito. Snazzy large plates include cashew grouper with rich green chile beurre blanc. (Knox does not use conch or lobster, as she believes them to be unsustainable.) Wild Mango's features a handful of impressive vegetarian options. Seating is beach-casual, with high tables on a covered, open-air veranda.